


Wizard Love!

by MedieavalBeabe



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Jealousy, Love, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:06:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The next generation of Harry Potter kids pick up their wands! Hogwarts is back to normal after the final battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort but even in a changing universe, is it possible for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to find romance...?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Year - Arrival

Idina Wood stood on Platform 9 ¾ and looked around. The place was a bustle of activity as people here, there, left, right and centre all hurried to either get on or else put their children on the Hogwarts Express. Many of the faces were new to Idina and she couldn’t spot anyone she recognised amongst the crowds. 

Her nine year old brother, Harry, named for, as her father put it “the best Seeker Gryffindor’s ever known” grinned up at her. “You scared?”

“No, but you’ll be scared in two years time when this is you,” Idina replied, giving him a push. 

“Hey, enough of that,” said their father, coming up to them, having finally loaded her new trunk onto the train. In truth, Idina was a little nervous. She had never been away from home on her own before. To show that she didn’t mean it, she gave Harry a hug. He submitted briefly and then wriggled away. “Get off, people are looking!”

Their parents laughed. It was odd, Idina often thought, that they made such a loving couple. Her father had been the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in his last three years at Hogwarts and had been rather a determined sort; known for pushing his team to play their best and beat all other teams they played. Subsequently, one might think that he would never in a million years ever fall in love with a Ravenclaw, even one as pretty as their mother, and yet it had happened. Persephone Oakleaf had won his heart just as he had won hers and, both mad Quidditch fanatics as they were, both of them were supportive of their children’s desires to make the Quidditch team. 

“When I go to Hogwarts, I’m going to make the team in the first year,” Harry insisted, intent on being like his namesake in every respect. 

Oliver laughed. “We’ll see! But even if you don’t, if you keep up practising, you can make it in second year!”

Idina glanced over her shoulder as the train whistled. It was nearly time to go. 

“Have you got everything?” Persephone asked her, slightly anxiously. 

Idina nodded. “Yes, Mum.” And then she gave her mother a firm hug. “Write to me lots, won’t you?”

She laughed, lightly. “Of course we will, sweetie!”

“Take care, love,” Oliver told her, giving her a firm but loving hug. “And don’t take any grief from those Slytherins – unless by some minor chance you end up in that house.”

“Not that it matters,” her mother chimed in, with a glance at her husband. 

“Of course not,” Oliver replied, but when Persephone was preoccupied with Harry, he winked at his daughter. “Just as long as you’re in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.”

Idina beamed at him, and then turned to her brother. “Bye, Harry, oh, and Mum, remember to let him out at nights before he goes to bed.”

“Ha ha, very funny!” Harry replied, sarcastically.

Grinning cheekily, Idina hopped aboard the train and hurried along to the compartment where her luggage sat waiting for her. Her new Barn Owl Aeschylus sat asleep in his cage on the seat beside her. Idina waved to her family until they were out of sight, and then she sat back in the compartment and thought. 

Hogwarts; she was finally going. The summer had seemed to last years since she had received her letter; although it had been packed with getting her robes, a wand (nine inches, willow and phoenix feather) cauldron, books and everything else she needed to start a new term at Hogwarts. Whilst she was brimming with excitement, after hearing her parents stories of the great castle and its forbidden forest and the ghosts and the teachers and the spells and the classes, she was also a little nervous. 

“Just do your best,” they had soothed her. “We’ll be proud of you whatever happens.”

“Hey.”

Roused from her long train of thought, Idina looked up to see a pale boy with dark hair, about her own age, standing in the doorway of her compartment. He was dragging a trunk behind him and had an owl cage containing a ruffled looking Tawny under one arm. 

“Can I sit here?” The boy indicated the seat opposite her. “Everywhere else is full to bursting.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” replied Idina, and the boy gave her a grateful smile as he dragged his luggage into the compartment. “Sweet looking owl,” she added. “What’s she called?”

“Athena,” replied the boy, running a hand through his dark hair. Then, awkwardly, he added “What’s yours called?”

“Aeschylus. Oh, and I’m Idina. Idina Wood.”

“Blake Nott,” replied the boy, sitting down opposite her. He looked slightly agitated. 

“Are you nervous?” Idina asked. “You look nervous.”

Blake shrugged, casually. “I just want to do right by my dad, that’s all. He’s putting a lot of pressure on me to get into Slytherin.” Idina flinched. Ok, she was in a compartment with a Slytherin; her father had told her not to get too friendly with them. Still, she might as well be polite; the boy might not end up in Slytherin after all. “What about you? Where are you hoping to go?” 

“Maybe Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor like my parents,” Idina replied, trying to sound casual. 

“Oh, wait! Of course! Wood! Isn’t your dad Keeper for Puddlemere United?”

“Yeah, and my mum’s Beater.”

“Cool!” Blake leaned back, looking more relaxed. “My dad just works for the Ministry.”

“Doing what?”

“Magical Law Enforcement. My older brother Ivan wants to go into that too when he leaves Hogwarts.”

“What about you? Do you want to do that?”

“Nah. I’d rather play Quidditch or do something with animals.”

“That’s cool,” Idina replied. “I can’t wait until third year when we do Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Yeah, I hear there’s meant to be things like unicorns and hippogriffs in the forest!” Blake’s eyes shone with excitement. “And Thestrals; although I’ve never seen one, you know, never having seen death before, but even so, it’d be so cool-!”

He broke off as the compartment door was thrust open and a voice said “So, there you are!”

Idina looked up to see a boy a few years older than them, already dressed in Hogwarts robes, with shoulder length dark hair and a sneer writ upon his face. He largely ignored her and addressed Blake. “And there was me thinking you might have missed the train; more’s the pity!”

“Hey, Ivan,” Blake muttered, quietly. 

Ivan glanced over at Idina. “And who’s this?”

Idina swallowed. “I’m Idina.”

“Oh, cute, you’ve found yourself a friend!” sneered Ivan. “Wonder how long she’ll last before she decides you’re a loser!”

Blake flinched, uncomfortably. Idina sprang to her feet. “Leave him alone!”

Ivan laughed, fearlessly. “What are you going to do? Put a hex on me and get into trouble before you’ve even got to Hogwarts?”

“Who needs hexes?” asked Idina, and she kicked him firmly in the shin. 

“Argh!” Ivan yelped. Recovering he scowled at her and reached for his wand. “Right, that’s it!”

Blake sprang to his feet. “Mum said you’re not to hex anyone on the train again!”

“Mum’s not here!” Ivan retorted. 

“Just leave us alone!” snapped Blake. 

Ivan regarded him with a cool look, and then, replacing his wand inside his robes, he seized his little brother by the front of his collar. “Get one thing straight, pleb! Once we’re in Hogwarts, you have to do what I say or else, got it?”

“Got it,” Blake muttered, squirming. 

Ivan gave him a shove, releasing him, and Blake toppled back into his seat. Ivan turned to Idina. “As for you, you just watch your step, right?”

Idina didn’t answer him; instead she glared up at his defiantly. Ivan left the compartment and she tuned to Blake, who was righting himself. “Are you ok?”

“Fine,” Blake replied, straightening his jumper. “He’s just a bully.”

“You shouldn’t let him push you around like that.”

Blake laughed. “”Like I have a choice! Do you have older siblings?”

“No, just a younger brother.”

“You’re lucky.” 

They sat in silence for a while, and then as the sky began to darken above them, Blake said “I think we’re nearly there.”

It was true; a few moments later the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmede station. Now both in their Hogwarts robes, Idina and Blake hopped out amid a sea of black as they joined their fellow students. 

“Firs’ years this way!” barked a voice and they turned to see a giant of a man carrying a lantern and beckoning them over. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and also Care of Magical Creatures teacher, led them to a series of boats at the side of the lake. “No more’n four to a boat!”

Idina and Blake found themselves joined in their boat by a girl with long blonde hair and a boy with pale, almost white hair and wide eyes. “Hi,” chirped the girl. “I’m Helena, Helena Macmillan. And this is Lysander Scamander.”

“Scamander...” Idina repeated, thoughtfully. “Wait; are you related to New Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?”

“He’s my great grandfather,” replied Lysander, nodding, although his mind seemed to be elsewhere. 

“Well,” said Blake, “I’m Blake Nott.”

“And I’m Idina Wood,” added Idina as the boats pushed off from the side of the lake. 

“Where are you hoping to go?” asked Helena, excitably. Then, without waiting for an answer, she added “I want to be in Hufflepuff, like my parents, although if I ended up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor it wouldn’t be too bad, I suppose, but I should really stick with the family traditions.”

“Well, my parents are hoping I’ll get into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw,” Idina said.

“My whole family’s been in Slytherin for years,” Blake added, dully. “So I probably will be too.”

“Oh.” Helena looked surprised and then she smiled, encouragingly. “Or you might not.”

“I just hope that our common room doesn’t have any Wrackspurts or Nargles,” said Lysander, causing the other three to exchange glances and shrugs. 

As the castle of Hogwarts came into sight, Idina held her breath. It looked beautiful and inviting and was lit with what must have been thousands of candles. In a clump, the first years were led from the boats and up a flight of stairs to a large front door. Hagrid knocked once and the door was opened by a thin, wiry old woman in emerald green robes and a matching pointed hat. Her hair was mousy and frizzy and restrained in a bun at the back of her head. Golden, half-moon spectacles were perched on her nose. 

“Firs’ years, Professor Conchrose,” announced Hagrid. 

“Thank you, Hagrid,” she replied, in a peasant but professional manner, and then the led the first years into the castle. Idina looked all around her, marvelling. It was just as her parents had described it to her, and more. Professor Conchrose led them all in a line into the Great Hall, where each first year felt the eyes of their fellow students upon them and a sense of pressure settled into the air. 

Before them, the headmaster Professor Flitwick, as he had been recently elected by Professor MacGonagall upon her retirement, sat in the middle of the table, flanked on either side by teachers of all shapes, sizes and ages, and they too watched the first year students as they filed into the hall. Professor Conchrose halted before a small stool where the Sorting Hat sat and, turning efficiently to the first years, she drew a scroll from the inside of her robes and unrolled it. “When I announce your name, you will come forwards, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your house. Jeremiah Ashbourne?” 

Idina, Blake, Helena and Lysander watched as a small, sandy-haired boy stepped nervously up to the stool, sat down and Professor Conchrose placed the Sorting Hat on his head. The Hat seemed to consider for a few minutes before shouting out “Ravenclaw!”

The Ravenclaw students cheered as they welcomed their new student and Professor Conchrose continued down the list of names. 

“Helena Macmillan!” she called eventually.

“Yes!” Helena whispered, excitedly, and she scurried up to the stool. No sooner was the hat placed upon her head, it cried out “Hufflepuff!”

Idina laughed, and then noticed that Blake was looking pale. Turning, she saw that Ivan, sat with the Slytherins was shooting him a dark look, making him feel uneasy.

“Blake Nott!” called Professor Conchrose. 

“Good luck,” Idina muttered to him, but Blake didn’t respond; instead he simply stepped up to the stool. The Hat took a long time to consider before it finally shouted out “Slytherin!”

Blake looked relieved as he joined the Slytherins. “I heard that the head of their house was really a vampire,” Lysander said, matter-of-factly. 

Idina laughed. “No, I don’t think he was!”

“Lysander Scamander!”

Lysander walked up to the stool, sat down and the Hat was placed upon his head. “Ravenclaw!” it cried, presently. 

They seemed to take forever to get to Idina’s name, for this year there were a lot of first years with names beginning with “S” and “T” but then eventually, after “Erica Timmons” was placed in Hufflepuff, they came to “Idina Wood!”

Nerves filling her, Idina stepped quietly up to the Hat, wishing everyone would look away whilst she was being sorted. Professor Conchrose placed the Hat on her head and a tiny voice murmured “Hm, another Wood, is it? Well, let’s see...there’s courage and determination and loyalty and I see a pure heart too, so...Gryffindor!” 

The Gryffindor students burst into applause and Idina roused herself as it sank in that she was in the same house as some of the greatest Hogwarts students to ever live; her father and the great Harry Potter included, and she went to join them at the Gryffindor table. The sorting finally over, the feasting began after Professor Flitwick bid it, and the golden plates, bowls and goblets in front of them magically filled with food and drink. Picking a chicken leg onto her plate with her knife and fork, Idina looked over at the Slytherin table where, to her surprise, Blake seemed to be connecting somewhat with his fellow Slytherins. She smiled. Maybe from now on Ivan would leave him alone. 

“So, you’re a Wood?” said a voice to her left. Looking up, she noticed a fourth year with dark, untidy hair and brown eyes, and a cheeky expression on his face grinning at her. 

“Yeah, my dad’s Oliver Wood,” she replied.

“I know. He was Captain of Gryffindor Quidditch Team when my dad was Seeker,” the boy replied, sticking out his hand. “James Potter.”

Idina stared at him. “What; your dad’s Harry Potter?”

“Yep!” He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. My dad says that your dad was the best Seeker he ever had.”

James beamed, proudly. “He was; he was great!”

Idina quickly settled down amongst her classmates as the feast wore on, and then, eventually, when everyone was very much full, the tables were cleared and their Prefect, a lad named Roland Finch-Fletchly, led them through to their Common Room, which, Idina smiled to see, was still guarded by The Fat Lady. 

“Password?” she asked them. 

“Monks Hood,” replied Roland and the portrait swung back to admit them. Idina followed her fellow girls up to their dormitory and, to her immense pleasure, saw that her trunk and other belongings had been stored by a bed right beside the window. Looking out, she could see the grounds and the Quidditch pitch just below. 

She smiled as she finally tumbled into bed and closed her eyes, knowing that when she woke up it would be the start of a whole new life at Hogwarts...


	2. First Year - Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next generation of Harry Potter kids pick up their wands! Hogwarts is back to normal after the final battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort but even in a changing universe, is it possible for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to find romance...?

Idina was woken from a peaceful sleep by the sound of a rising bell. She clambered from the soft warmth of her four poster bed and pulled on her robes, still unable to believe that she was here at last. Then, in a knot with her fellow Gryffindor girls, she left the Common Room and went into the Great Hall for breakfast. 

Her eyes sought out Blake and immediately spotted him hunched in with the other Slytherins. His head was bowed, but she had a feeling he wore a grave expression on his face as she passed by. 

Helena was sitting already at the Hufflepuff table, and the second Idina sat down in a seat, she spun about to talk to her. “Ooh, I can’t wait for Charms!” she said, without even greeting Idina with a “Good morning” first. “It was my dad’s favourite subject; along with Herbology, of course! I hear that Professor Longbottom really knows his stuff for that!”

“He’s one of my mum’s friends, you know,” said Lysander from the Ravenclaw table, in the same dream-struck voice as before. “They fought Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic together; with Harry Potter and the others.”

James Potter, who had overheard this exchange, beamed proudly. “That’s right. My parents and my uncle and aunt say that your mum’s one of the nicest people they’ve ever met; though Aunt Hermione says she can be a little eccentric.”

Lysander shrugged and began to spread marmalade on his cornflakes, absently. “I can’t think what you mean by that.”

Idina giggled and turned to James. “Is it true you’re related to the Weasley family?”

“Yep!” James straightened up, proudly. 

“My dad says he never had a fiercer pair of beaters than the Weasley twins,” Idina replied. This served to make James look even more proud. 

“I wish I was a second year already,” sighed Helena. “Then I could try out for the Quiddich team!”

“What would you play?” Idina asked her. 

“Mm...maybe Chaser, or possibly a Beater. I don’t know really. It just looks like fun.”

Idina got on with eating her breakfast, wishing there was some way that Blake could join in their conversation. He looked rather lonely on the Slytherin table, stuck in between Ivan and a pale second year with white blonde hair and a sneery expression on his face. 

“Scorpius Malfoy,” said James. 

“Sorry?” Idina looked up at him. 

“That blonde Slytherin boy, in case you’re wondering. Try not to get on the wrong side of him. He and my dad had an enmity for all their years in Hogwarts. His dad was Seeker for Slytherin team for about five years.”

Idina vaguely remembered her father once telling her about a match in his sixth year where Harry Potter and the Slytherin Seeker Draco Malfoy had been neck and neck to get the Snitch whilst Harry was being chased by a rogue Bludger. “Did...his dad become a Death Eater or something?” she said, slowly, trying to remember what she had been told about the Battle of Hogwarts. 

“Yeah, for a while.”

James didn’t expand on this explanation and Idina didn’t ask him to. 

When they were done with breakfast, the first years made their way into Greenhouse 1 at the back of the school. As they filed in, Idina touched Blake’s arm. “Hi, you ok? You look worried.”

Blake threw a glance over his shoulder. “Look, no offence, but I don’t know whether we should...you know, be talking.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m a Slytherin and you’re a Gryffindor.”

“So?” Idina laughed. “Oh, come on! We were friends before we were even Sorted!”

Blake looked at her, in surprise. “Were we?”

“Yes. Well, I thought we were.”

Blake shuffled his feet, awkwardly. “I’ve never really had a friend before.”

Before Idina could respond, a tall, slightly chubby and somewhat dishevelled looking man hurried into the room. Idina had seen him at breakfast and knew now that this must be none other than Professor Longbottom. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he gabbled, placing down a pile of gardening gloves on a table. “Not a good start to a new term, being late, eh?” He smiled at the students. “I’m Professor Longbottom; welcome to Herbology. Now I’m assuming you’ve all read One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi over the summer?” Everyone nodded and he grinned, broadly. “Fantastic. So, everyone grab a table and a plant pot and we’ll begin.”

The lesson consisted of teaching the students about recognising the various herbs and fungi that grew around Hogwarts, and Idina was overjoyed to learn that their homework would include actually going out into the grounds and studying them for themselves. That would be a great opportunity to explore. 

They moved from Herbology into Transfiguration, which was taught by Professor Conchrose. Like her predecessor, Minervan McGonagall, Professor Conchrose was strict but fair with her students and though Idina felt a little intimidated by her, she also felt that she would be a good person to run to in an emergency and was glad that she was head of Gryffindor House. 

Following Transfiguration was Potions, headed by Horace Slughorn. Idina wasn’t sure, initially, what to make of him. He was a Slytherin, but you wouldn’t have thought it upon first meeting him. He was pleasant enough and took great care ensuring that the students knew exactly what they were doing in his class, yet he seemed to favour some over others. This didn’t bother her, but a few of the other Slytherins looked disappointed when he didn’t pick them out for special greeting. Nevertheless they worked hard and he seemed very impressed by their efforts. 

When the students eventually got a break from lessons, Idina decided that this would be a good time to send Aeschylus to her parents to let them know that she was in Gryffindor. Helena too expressed a desire to send an owl home, although she would have to borrow one of the school owls since she didn’t own one herself, just a cat, and so the pair of them made their way up to the Owlery. 

“What’s your cat called?” Idina asked. 

“Pomander,” replied Helena. “He’s grey and very fluffy. I always wanted a cat but my mum was always worried about them scratching up the furniture, but when I got into Hogwarts, she said I could have one as long as I teach it to behave at home.”

Idina nodded, thoughtfully. Helena was more of a talker than a listener, but she decided that she liked her. She was bubbly and confident and the kind of friend you’d want, really. And, as far as she knew, Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had no qualms about hanging out together. 

“Can I ask you something?” she said, presently, tying her letter to Aeschylus’ leg. 

“Yeah, what?” Helena asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder. 

“Do you think it’s odd...hypothetically speaking, if a Gryffindor and a Slytherin were friends?”

Helena went off in a peel of laughter. “I doubt any Slytherin would want to be friends with anyone other than another Slytherin! My dad says they can be quite prejudice!”

“Oh,” was all Idina said to that. 

Their last lesson of the day was Charms and Idina couldn’t blame Helena for being excited about it, it did turn out to be rather fun in the end. Professor Patil was a nice young woman, very patient with her students, and very encouraging too. 

All in all, Idina reflected, as she sat down to dinner later that evening, it had been quite a good day all round, really. Well, except for the fact that Blake seemed to now be avoiding her. Shooting a glance over at the Slytherin table, she watched Ivan cuff him around the back of the head and laugh, causing a few of the other Slytherin boys to join in. She wondered if that was it, as Blake shuffled further up the table away from his brother, was it because he feared Ivan’s reaction if he was seen befriending a Gryffindor? If that was it, then she supposed she couldn’t blame him with a bully like that for a brother. 

Even as she was thinking this, something landed in her lap. Glancing down she saw that it was a folded scrap of parchment. Looking around for who had thrown it, and not finding them, she set down her knife and fork and quietly unfolded it in her lap. The handwriting was small and spidery, as if it had been written in great haste, but she was able to make it out. 

“Can we talk? Maybe meet in the library after dinner? Please? Blake”

Idina glanced up, over at the Slytherin table, where he was sitting. He caught her eyes, flashed her a brief smile of desperation and pleading, and then went back to his dinner. 

“How come you keep looking over at the Slytherin table?” asked James, who was watching her. 

Idina thought quickly. “Just checking they’re not about to start throwing stuff at us.”

James laughed. “I doubt they’d do that with the teachers around.”

Idina went back to her dinner, thinking this all through. So Blake did want to talk to her? Or was he going to tell her to stay away from him? No, that couldn’t be it, not if the look on his face when she had met his eye was anything to go by.

So, after dinner, she made her way to the library, alone. Helena, thankfully, wanted to go back to the Common Room, and Idina said that she’d meet her there later, using Potions homework as an excuse to go to the library. 

When she got there, Blake was nowhere to be seen. She sighed. “If this is all some kind of Slytherin trick,” she decided, “then there are going to be some very sorry Slytherins floating in the Black Lake by the end of the week.”

Someone grabbed her hand, and she jumped, violently, pulling away with a startled cry. 

“Shh!” Madam Pince hissed as she passed by with a stack of books in her arms. 

“Sorry,” Idina whispered, and then she felt herself grabbed again and dragged behind the bookshelf. Startled, she looked up at Blake. 

“What the Forbidden Forest are you doing?” she hissed, wrenching her hand free of his. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump.” Blake looked genuinely apologetic. “I just didn’t want any of the Slytherins to see us together.”

Idina folded her arms. “So what do you want?”

Blake looked awkward. He shuffled his feet a little. “I’d like us to be friends.”

“O-K.”

Blake sighed and looked up at her. “Yeah. I like you. And also I never said thanks for standing up for me on the train yesterday, so thanks.”

Idina looked at him. He looked so vulnerable that she couldn’t help forgiving him for ignoring her for the rest of the day. She smiled. “Well, you’re welcome. But won’t you get into trouble with Ivan if you’re friends with me?”

“Not if we keep it secret.” Blake gave her a mischievous look. “Until he leaves Hogwarts.”

“And just how are we going to manage that?” Idina ran a hand through her hair. “I mean, we could sneak around behind our friends backs, I suppose, but it wouldn’t be easy.”

“We could pretend we don’t like each other so they don’t get suspicious,” Blake agreed. 

“You seriously think we can pull it off.”

“We won’t know unless we try, and I’m game if you are.” Blake held out a hand to her. 

“I’m game,” replied Idina, shaking his hand.


	3. First Year - Dark Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next generation of Harry Potter kids pick up their wands! Hogwarts is back to normal after the final battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort but even in a changing universe, is it possible for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to find romance...?

A few days later, Idina was eating toast and chatting to Helena when Aeschylus landed down beside her plate in a flurry of feathers, bearing a letter and looking extremely proud of himself. Helena was quickly distracted by her subscription to the Daily Prophet, so Idina read the letter to herself. It was a short letter, more like a note, really, but Idina knew by now that no one in her family was particularly fond of long conversation, so that was just fine, really. 

“Dear Idina,

Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are extremely proud. I hope you’re settling in and making friends. 

Everything is pretty much the same as usual here; except that Harry does seem to be living up to his namesake and getting into all sorts of scrapes. Please refrain from doing so whilst at Hogwarts, Idina, after all, as you’ll recall your father’s Hogwarts record was near perfect (as he is so very fond of reminding me – though what he got up to after his school years is another matter!) 

I’m not saying you have to be a perfect student, but please try to stay out of mischief for this year at least. (That includes keeping away from the Dark Forest and any other parts of the school that may or may not be off limits, although I must admit it’s been a while since anything other than the Forest was classed as out of bounds for students, not since the Third Floor corridor was restricted in my third year.)

My other advice is concentrate in class, study hard for your end of year exams and just basically have fun. If you want to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays, just let me and your father know (we strongly recommend it; the Christmas feast is always a riot!) Either way, we’ll see you soon and please keep in touch. 

Love Mum (and Dad and Harry)”

Idina laughed and tucked the letter away in her pocket, wondered just what exactly her father had got up to in his years after leaving Hogwarts. Albus Potter, James younger brother, glanced up at her. “What’s funny?”

She smiled. “Just my mum’s letter, that’s all.”

Rose Weasley, sitting beside her cousin, gave him a nudge. “You are so paranoid, Al! She wasn’t laughing at you!”

Albus flushed and went back to his bacon. 

“Aw!” Helena sighed, causing Idina to turn to look at her. “Honeydukes is having a sale on Fudge Flies! Wouldn’t you know it? And we can’t go there for another two years!”

“Maybe you could ask an older Prefect to buy you some,” grinned Idina. 

“I like Fizzing Whizbees,” said Lysander, randomly, picking at a sausage as though he thought it might attack him if he prodded it too hard. “But my grandad reckons they use newts eyes in the colouring.”

Idina and Helena exchanged a grimace. 

“Watch it!” snapped a voice, suddenly.

Idina glanced up to see that Ivan Nott had just barged into James Potter, it seemed. 

“You watch it!” James snapped, bristling. 

“Or what? You’re gonna hex me?”

“I just might!”

“James, Dad said no!” cried his sister Lily, who was in Idina’s year, grabbing at her brother’s arm. 

“Yeah, you’re right, Lil,” replied James, scowling at Ivan. “It’d be a waste of magic.”

“Coward,” snorted Ivan, stomping over to the Slytherin table. 

“He’s just an idiot, ignore him,” Idina ventured. 

James laughed as he sat down opposite her. “That’s one way of putting it! Do yourself a favour, Idina, and never get embroiled with Slytherins. They’re jerks.”

“Not all of them,” said Albus. “Dad says that some turn out alright.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll believe that when I see it,” sighed James. “Ok, so Professor Slughorn’s alright, but that’s about it, really.”

Idina said nothing, she simply glanced over at Blake. He too seemed to have seen the little skirmish and he met her eyes. Then, with a shrug, he looked away as his brother turned to elbow him and snap “Pass the marmalade!”

Idina tried hard to keep her head down when she was around the other Slytherins in class, but it was very difficult. Like those who had attended school with Harry Potter, they enjoyed showing off their supposed superiority, picking on the weaker man and ridiculing people who weren’t “Pure Bloods.” Idina prayed they’d never find out that her mother was a Half-Blood witch on her father’s side, otherwise she’d never live it down. It was stupid, though, she reflected; if it didn’t matter a wit was her mother’s blood status was to her father than why should it matter to anyone else. Her father had once said “Just because you’re Half-Blood, Muggle Born or Squib, it doesn’t make you any less of a witch or wizard,” and Idina was inclined to believe it. 

She ran this past her friends as they sat studying in the library. Professor Conchrose had given them quite a bit of homework this week; two rolls of parchment on the laws of Transfiguration, and so they sat at a table surrounded by so many books that they had to stand up to address one another properly. 

“Oh, my family are all Pure Blood now, but Dad says that way, way back in history we’re descended from Muggles and quite a few Squibs,” Helena said, matter-of-factly, scribbling away at her parchment. “Not that blood status matters to us, mind.”

“I think we’ve a few Half-Bloods here and there,” mused Lysander. “But then, my mum’s friends with people like Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, so none of us have ever cared about it.”

Idina nodded and went back to her work. Then, a sudden noise caused the three of them to look up. 

“What is that?” asked Helena, getting to her feet. 

“Don’t know, but it’s getting closer,” Idina observed, and then Blake hopped around the corner, moving as if his legs were fused together. Seeing Idina, he gestured helplessly, trying to keep his balance. “Help!”

“Leg-Locker Curse!” exclaimed Idina in a hushed whisper. “Who did that to you?”

“Who do you think?” Blake almost toppled and seized the edge of the desk to keep upright. “No one bother to stop and help me; they were all too busy laughing.”

“It is sort of funny,” Lysander said.

“Does anyone know the counter spell?” Idina asked. 

“Oh, I do!” Helena puffed up, proudly. “My dad taught me! Hold on.”

Blake winced, preparing himself for something worse than a Leg-Locker jinx, but fortunately it worked and he steadied himself. “Thanks.”

“Your brother’s in fourth year, you think he’d grow up by now,” Idina sighed. 

Blake shrugged. “Yeah, well...”

His voice trailed off wistfully and Idina was filled with a sudden urge to give him a hug, only she decided against doing such a thing in front of the others. 

“Maybe you could tempt a Thestral to eat him?” said Lysander, blandly, turning over a page in his book. “They can sometimes be trained to eat human flesh, you know.”

Idina had a feeling that this statement, like so many that came from Lysander, was more theory than fact, but she didn’t bother correcting him. 

Blake sighed. “If only! To do that, I’d have to go into the Dark Forest.”

“I wish we could,” said Idina, wistfully. “I bet there’s all sorts of interesting things in that forest.”

“But we’re not allowed,” said Helena. “I mean, in third year, maybe Professor Hagrid will take us but not on our own.”

Blake looked thoughtful. “What if the teachers didn’t know about it?”

“You mean sneak out?” Idina asked. “Isn’t that a bit risky?”

“So?” Blake rubbed his eyes. “I’m fed up with Ivan getting to me all the time! Maybe if I could just do something that he wouldn’t even think of doing for once, something really risky, maybe then he’ll lay off me!”

“It could be fun,” said Lysander, thoughtfully. 

“You have to be joking!” Helena drew herself up to her full height. “Well, I’m not going!”

“Fine,” shrugged Blake, and then he turned to Idina. “How about you?”

Idina hesitated. Her mother had told her not to go into the Dark Forest. “Maybe we shouldn’t, guys. Helena’s right.” Helena gave them a satisfied smirk. “It’s called the Dark Forest for a reason, after all.”

“We wouldn’t have to go far inside,” insisted Blake. “Just on the outskirts.”

Idina wavered, slightly. “Well...”

“But we’d get caught!” exclaimed Helena. 

“Shh!” hissed Madame Pince, passing by with a cart of books. “People are trying to study!”

The four of them glanced around the library, but they seemed to be the only ones in sight. Nevertheless they didn’t argue. “Even if the teachers didn’t catch us, what if we ran into Peeves or something?” Helena hissed. 

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it!” Blake said.

“Well, you two can go off and get yourselves expelled, but I’m not going to.” Helena swept up her books in her arms. “Come on, Idina.”

“Do you always do what she tells you?” snapped Blake, glancing at Idina. 

Idina made a quick decision. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead and turned to Helena. “Sorry, Hel. It’s three against one.”

Helena sighed, theatrically, and swept out of the library. Blake grinned at her. “Great! For a second there, I thought you were going to chicken out on us!”

“So, do we meet outside the Forest, then?” asked Lysander, in a faraway voice.

“Somewhere in a corridor would be better,” said Blake. “Maybe here? Outside the library?”

Idina nodded. “Ok, but if anyone thinks they’re about to get caught, we should just go back to bed.”

“Fine,” Blake agreed. “I’ll see you two here at midnight.”

Idina still had doubts in her head when she went to bed. If they were caught, then her parents would surely kill her for taking such a risk. On the other hand, what was it her mother had said in her letter? “Have fun.” They didn’t expect her to be a perfect student, after all. 

Midnight struck, and she slithered out of bed and dressed, quietly, snuck her wand into her pocket and crept silently out of the dormitory. 

“Really!” hissed the Fat Lady indignantly as Idina opened her portrait and stole out into the corridor. “Waking a body at all hours of the night indeed!”

Idina ignored her and pressed onwards. Presently, however, she felt that she was being followed. She stopped in her tracks, and then when someone poked her in the small of the back, she jumped almost a foot in the air. 

“Take it easy! It’s me!”

“Blake!” breathed Idina, catching her breath. “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry!” He grinned, guiltily. “Couldn’t resist!”

Lysander was already waiting for them outside the library, with...

“Helena?”

Helena sighed. “Look, I figured I wouldn’t be able to sleep for worrying about you guys so I might as well be worrying with you.”

“You know, this was surprisingly easy,” Blake muttered. 

Together the four of them left the castle – again this proved to be easy – and shuffled down towards the forest. In the dark it looked even more foreboding and Idina felt doubts begin to fill her again. “Um, maybe we should go back,” she suggested when they were about half an inch away from the trees. 

“I agree,” said Helena, stoutly, casting a fearful look back at the school. 

“Oh, come on, we can’t wimp out now,” insisted Blake, his eyes shining with dark excitement. “Look, we’ve got our wands, what can happen?”

And, before anyone could stop him, he slipped into the forest. 

“Blake!” Idina hissed, following him. 

“No good can come of this,” sighed Helena, following.

“Wait for me,” said Lysander, following. 

The forest was indeed dark and shadowy and all they could see were twisted trees, bumps in the ground and above a flurry of stars settled on the black imprint of night. “Well,” said Helena, cheerfully. “This was lovely. Now let’s go.”

Even as she said it, something crackled somewhere deep within the forest. “What was that?” Blake said, moving forwards to investigate. He was a fast mover. 

“Blake, no!” hissed Idina, hurrying after him. Helena and Lysander stood where they were. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all,” Lysander mused. 

“You think?” asked Helena, incredulously. 

Idina caught up with Blake a fair few metres into the forest and she grabbed his arm. “Blake, this has gone too far! We should go back! We could get in serious trouble!”

Blake wrenched his arm free. “Have you never done one risky thing in your life, Idina?”

“This is too risky! We could get hurt, or killed!” 

As if on cue, a flurry of bats shot towards them in the darkness and they both ducked to avoid the beating wings and sharp claws. “Ok, ok!” snapped Blake, as if she was responsible for the bats. “Jeez! Which way did we come?”

“Um...” Idina glanced over her shoulder. “It was that way...I think.”

“You think?”

“Hey, you were the one who went tearing off; don’t blame me if we’re lost!”

A yelp erupted from behind them. “Bats!” 

That was Helena. “Yeah, it is that way,” said Idina.

She made to walk back but Blake grabbed her arm. Before Idina could ask what was up, he silenced her with a wave of his hand. “Do you hear that?”

Idina could. Something was padding towards them in the darkness, and she could hear a heavy, rattling breathing and then a pounding of feet, or was that her own heartbeat? At any rate she didn’t want to stay to find out. Grabbing Blake’s hand, she turned and ran, dragging him with her. Helena and Lysander, seeing them running towards them, took their cue and ran too. For a second it seemed like they would never escape the twisted tangle of trees, and then they broke out into the moonlight and pelted up the hill towards the school, not looking back until they were safely inside. 

“What was it?” asked Idina, breathlessly.

Blake shook his head, panting. “I don’t know, but whatever it was...” He broke off, staring over her head. 

“Well, well, well,” said the voice of Argus Filch behind them. Idina’s heart sank. “First years out of bed. Dear me, we are in trouble, aren’t we?”


End file.
